One Word
by ErikaBeeBee
Summary: Blaine makes a return visit to his old high school to face his past, Kurt tagging along for moral support. People get hurt, bad things happen, but in the end they earn self discovery and an even stronger relationship. Collab fic with 1jenny fan on LJ!


Media: Fic  
Title: One Word  
Authors: Erika (erikabeebee) and Courtney (1jennyfan). Another collab! :D  
Betas: fabrisse and velvet_tears05  
Rating: PG-13 for language and violence.  
Wordcount: 3,774  
Spoilers: Prom Queen.  
Warnings: Some violence and harsh language.  
Summary: Blaine makes a return visit to his old high school to face his past, Kurt tagging along for moral support. People get hurt, bad things happen, but in the end they earn self discovery and an even stronger relationship.  
**Disclaimer: We don't own Glee. Please don't sue. Erika only gets a $20 allowance and Courtney only makes $8 an hour.**

**1jennyfan's A/N: **Erika and I are officially back again! :D And we've got some new betas in tow too: fabrisse and velvet_tears05. Thank you both again for looking this over and making sure it works! :) I really like what we churned out this time. It's an interesting story, and I think we both put a lot into this; I hope it shows! For this one, I wrote Kurt and Seth, and Erika wrote Blaine and the bullies (for the most part). This is actually the opposite of what we did for the last story. XD I really don't know who I'm/she's better at writing; I really like writing them both! Tell us what you think. :)

**erikabeebee's A/N:**I just have to say that writing this story was such a great experience. I myself have never dealt with bullies and such, but I am so for conquering fears and regrets because I just think they hold you down. I've been going through some things lately and it's led me to believe that anything that will lead to a happier, lighter life can't possibly be bad. :) It's been more than great working with Courtney again. She's turned into one of my best internet friends, and I believe we work very well together! We worked really hard, and I sure hope it shows! :)

* * *

The Lima Bean was busy when Blaine and Kurt walked through the doors. Blaine inhaled the scent of coffee, taking comfort in the familiar smell and the warmth of his boyfriend standing next to him, his plan running through his head. He knew he needed to tell Kurt, and when they got their usual order and sat down at their usual table, he decided it was the perfect time.

"Kurt," he said, taking a deep breath. "I want to go visit Westerville High."

"What?" Kurt immediately looked shocked. "Blaine, are you sure that's a good idea?"

Blaine shrugged. "I don't know. Probably not, but that's not going to stop me. I just... I need to go there, Kurt. Tie up some loose ends."

Kurt tried to reason with him, but Blaine stood his ground. "Seriously, Blaine; you could be_ killed_."

Blaine sighed. "Kurt... This has been hanging over my head for the past few years. I just... I need to face my fears. It's not right to keep holding onto them like this. I also kind of just want to see my friends, see how they've changed, and see what's going on with the school, so it's not a total suicide mission." Blaine paused for a second. "I'd really, really like it if you would come with me Kurt."

"Oh, I'm coming with you," Kurt exclaimed. "Not that I think you can't handle it or anything, but," he corrected himself, taking his boyfriend's hand, "you're bound to need someone there for moral support." Kurt smiled at him gently, and it was the reassurance Blaine needed. He was ready.

A few days later, they were both right outside the entrance of Westerville High School. Blaine was anxious; that was no question. He glanced at Kurt: his best friend, his boyfriend, his strength. His eyes also had a hint of nervousness in them, but Blaine felt it was nowhere close to his own anxiety. Especially when Kurt also had that spark of determination that Blaine had come to count on and love.

"You can do this, Blaine," Kurt comforted him, resting his hands on his shoulders and squeezing them. "I believe in you." His voice was gentle but encouraging, reminding him that there was really nothing to fear. With Kurt by his side, he could do anything.

With a deep breath and a firm grip on his boyfriend's hand, Blaine opened the door.

The school wasn't much different than Blaine remembered. The school opened up into a common area, and, since it was lunch, it was overflowing with students. Blaine scanned the cliques that seemed to still be in place - the cheerleaders, the jocks, the nerds - pretty much every imaginable cliché you could think of was outlined right before them. Blaine sighed, sad at the thought that the school hadn't changed much since he'd been there. In a way, it reminded him of McKinley, but much harsher than his present school. People here weren't willing to stand up for each other, or, more importantly, for themselves.

Blaine was soon bombarded by an old group of friends that he had hung out with when he was at Westerville. ("Already seeing people you know?" Kurt had asked, wary but somewhat in awe.) There were only about three guys that he was close to; Blaine hadn't been popular or particularly outgoing at his old high school. He was shy and insecure before he came out, and didn't really start flourishing until he got to Dalton.

His thoughts were cut off by a familiar voice shouting his name. "Blaine? Blaine, is that you?"

The face that matched the voice ran up to them, and it only took Blaine a second to recognize who it was. "Oh my God, Seth!"

He looked just like Blaine remembered; he was skinner but taller than Blaine, and his short blonde hair was swept to the side. Never trying to stand out from the crowd, he only wore a simple shirt, hoodie, and jeans, but they weren't at all boring. The thing Blaine could never forget about Seth though was his shy but friendly demeanor, and he seemed to have kept it to this day.

"Come here, buddy!" Blaine called, and greeted him with a friendly hug.

Kurt cleared his throat, and Blaine looked over to see him eyeing the scene before him suspiciously.

"Oh, yeah!" Blaine turned to Kurt, motioning to his old friend. "Kurt, this is Seth," he said a smile on his face. "He's the guy I took to Sadie Hawkins with me. Seth, this is my boyfriend, Kurt."

"Oh," Seth chuckled, "That was no big deal. It's something I'd rather forget." He must have realized what he said, adding, "No, it had nothing to do with Blaine! It was just... yeah." Seth stopped then, glancing down awkwardly at his entwined hands. Then he seemed to remember something. "Wait," he said, looking up again. "You have a boyfriend now?" It was a relief for Blaine that Seth didn't sound jealous at all. On the contrary; he sounded excited for this change in Blaine's life!

"Yeah, I do," Blaine said with a smile, hesitating for a moment but then deciding 'oh, to hell with it' and grabbing Kurt's hand. "I met him about a year ago when he came to my school to spy on our Glee club." Blaine paused to wink at Kurt. "We've been together for about eight months now."

Blaine stopped talking and just stared at his beautiful boyfriend standing next to him. He was so in love with him that he could hardly stand it. Kurt was his strength, his courage, and Blaine squeezed his hand, suddenly so very, very thankful that he was here with him.

"Wow," Seth said, which broke Blaine out of his reverie. "Congrats, Blaine! I'm so happy for you." The way in which he was speaking made it almost seem like he was bouncing on his toes, he was so joyful. He glanced over the two of them, stopping on Kurt, and extended his hand. "So anyway, nice to meet you! Kurt, right?"

Kurt seemed surprised by the other boy's demeanor, but nevertheless grasped his hand in a firm shake. "Yes. Likewise."

"Wow," Seth repeated. "That's amazing. You're so lucky, Blaine. Well, you are too, Kurt. To have each other. I wish I had a boyfriend."

Blaine smiled warmly at the boy in front of him, taken aback with how happy Seth was for the two of them. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't this. Blaine just wasn't used to people being so happy for him just because he was so happy himself. He was suddenly very glad that he had decided to come back here.

"I'm positive you'll get one someday, Seth," Blaine reassured him. "And not only that, but a really great one. You deserve the best. Well, okay, the second best... The first best is already taken." With that, he winked at the boy standing next to him and squeezed his hand, which made Kurt blush. They weren't the type of couple that delved into a lot of PDA (unlike _some_of their friends), but Seth's openness to him made Blaine feel more comfortable to show his affections towards Kurt. It made him feel normal. Maybe his old school had changed more than he thought.

That idea was sharply cut off when Blaine heard a yell of, "Hey faggots!" behind them. All three boys visibly tensed and Kurt moved in closer to Blaine until he had hit his chest. Seth ran behind them, cowering in fear.

Blaine looked and saw two boys coming towards them. His blood ran cold when he recognized them as two of the bullies from the Sadie Hawkins dance. Memories flashed through his head of being kicked and punched and yelled at; of blood pouring out of his nose and a bruise forming around both of his eyes. He pulled Kurt even tighter against him, going into protective mode; no one was going to hurt his beautiful boy.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Blaine Anderson," one of the bullies said with a sneer when they reached the three other boys. Blaine couldn't remember his name, and wasn't sure how the other boy remembered _his_name, but he did recognize him. It was hard to forget the short cropped black hair and cold, dark brown eyes. He had grown a few inches and bulked up a bit, but it was no doubt him.

"Leave us alone," Blaine said. "We didn't come here to cause any trouble."

Nothing was said. The bullies just moved closer, causing the other three boys to back up in order to keep their distance. The other bully, who Blaine also recognized, with his piercing, dark green eyes, light brown hair, and muscles too big for comfort, motioned his head toward Kurt. "So, Anderson. This lady your boyfriend?"

"As a matter of fact," Blaine heard a light but fierce voice say beside him. It was Kurt, who was fixing the bullies with a hard glare. "Yes, I am."

Blaine stared in awe at the boy standing against him; the boy who was bullied so badly for being gay; who was shoved into lockers and slushied and thrown into dumpsters for being who he was, but not caring in that moment. He had just admitted that he was Blaine's boyfriend in front of two other bullies who were scary and threatening and had beat the crap out of Blaine, but Kurt didn't care. Blaine had never been more proud to call Kurt his. It gave him strength.

"Yeah," Blaine said, fixing the other boy with a smile. "Yes. This _man _is my boyfriend," he emphasized.

The bully with the short black hair sneered at this, his face turning into a mask of anger and resentment. "Well, we can't have two fags hanging all over each other, now can we?"

The brown-haired one nodded in agreement, stepping toward them. "Time to erase your kind off the face of the planet."

Before Blaine knew what was happening, both bullies had stepped forward and gave each of them a hard shove. Blaine stumbled backwards, his hand slipping out of Kurt's. He heard Seth shriek as they toppled over him, and before he knew it, all three of them were on the ground.

"It's about time you got what's coming to you," the bully with the short black hair said as he knelt in front of Blaine. Blaine could feel his warm breath in his face as he said the next few words. "What happened that night wasn't enough to satisfy me."

It was like everything started going in slow motion for Blaine. He saw the bully pull back his fist, the other one ready to fight as well. He looked over and saw his beautiful boyfriend with his blue-green eyes full of terror, Seth cowering behind Kurt, tears dancing on his eyelashes. He felt what was inside himself and he expected it to be fear but it wasn't; it was something stronger. He knew that the point of coming here wasn't to create more fears; it was to overcome old ones. He realized he may be short, and he may be a coward sometimes, but he knew that he needed to face this. That thought alone was enough to catapult him to his feet and suddenly he was standing face to face with the other two boys, standing as a barrier between the bullies and Kurt and Seth.

"No," Blaine said, his voice deathly serious. The two boys faltered, almost like they had never had anyone stand up to them before. And they probably hadn't. "I hope that someday I can stop all the bullying that happens in the world, but you have to start somewhere, so I'm going to start with you."

The bullies laughed and stepped forward but Blaine stood his ground.

"I'm not going to let you hurt these two. I care about them too much. So if you feel like you must, go ahead and hit me, but don't hurt Kurt and Seth."

"They're not going to hurt anyone," Kurt said behind him. Blaine could see that he was still fearful, but he covered it up with strength, facing the bullies. "I know your type, and how you don't often use your brains, so let me remind you that there are three of us and only two of you."

The bullies actually seemed... struck? At least, that's what it looked like to Blaine. He guessed that they had never had someone stand up for themselves against them before. And never the way Kurt did, using words instead of fists. It reminded him of what he told Kurt a day or so after he met. _"I let bullies chase me away, and it's something I really, really regret." _But the way Kurt handled himself... it was something that he never would have thought of doing. He smiled over at his boyfriend, amazed, once again, by his pure and utter strength. Blaine could see he was scared, how he was masking it over with his catty attitude, and it warmed Blaine's heart to see him still standing up despite that. He didn't think he could love his boyfriend more.

"W-well," the green eyed bully stammered, using more force to cover up his embarrassment. "We can still kick your asses. Think you can take us, fairy?"

"It's Kurt, actually. Kurt Hummel."

"Listen here homo," the dark eyed bully said, stepping forward and shoving Kurt, hard. "I don't like you coming in here and rubbing your fairy dust in our faces. I didn't come to school today to have it invaded by two fags. Now kindly shut up while I kick your ass."

Before Blaine could do anything, before he could protect his boyfriend, a fist was colliding with his nose. Kurt cried out and stumbled back, holding his nose as blood seeped through his fingers.

"Oh my God!" Seth cried, rushing over to him. "Are you okay? Kurt?"

He coughed a little before answering. "Y-yeah, I'm just," he replied, trying to pick himself up and cover his bleeding nose at the same time. "Ugh, those assholes."  
Seth silently offered him a pack of tissues from inside his pocket. "Here. I've always got these on hand, in case this stuff happens."

Kurt took the pack and began wiping his nose. "Thanks." He seemed like he was thinking for a moment. "You know, you're kind of like me, in the way you're always prepared. Blaine must have been grateful to have you."

"Really?" Seth looked up at him, surprised. Kurt nodded in between tissues. "Wow... thanks Kurt. That really means a lot." He looked down, then back up again. "He must be really grateful to have you now."

"Oh." Kurt blushed a bit at the thought, and then chuckled. "I guess so," he replied, looking over at Seth. "Thank you."

Blaine wasn't paying attention to them. He had had enough with these bullies, especially when they tried to hurt Kurt. "What the fuck is your problem?" Blaine shouted, getting up into the dark eyed bully's face. He actually stepped back a bit, surprised, as the green eyed bully looked on in shock. "Don't you dare lay a hand on him! Don't you dare hurt my boyfriend!"

The bully scoffed and drew his hand back to hit Blaine as well, but a surge of adrenaline shot through Blaine and he grabbed his fist, twisting his arm back. "No. You're done. Lay a hand on my boyfriend, and you'll be sorry. I'm not going to just lie down and take it anymore, and I'm not going to let you hurt me, or any of us, again."

He released the dark haired boy's arm with force, causing him to stumble back. The bell suddenly rang, signaling the end of lunch. Students scurried around like ants, rushing to get back to class. The bullies glanced at each other, uncertain of what to do, but Blaine just glared at them. "Get the fuck out of here."

They shared one more uncertain look before the green eyed bully said, "Come on man, let's just get out of here. They're not worth it."

The dark haired bully hesitated, but threw one last glare at the three boys and then turned and walked away, disappearing into the crowd of students.

As soon as they were gone, Blaine turned around and rushed over to his boyfriend, who was still holding a tissue to his nose and talking to Seth.

"Kurt! Are you okay?" Blaine asked, concern lacing his voice. He carefully took Kurt's hand away from his nose and tilted his head up, examining his nose. It was red and swollen and would probably bruise a bit, but overall, it didn't look like it was broken.

"I'm fine. I think. I don't know," Kurt quietly replied. He seemed tired all of a sudden, weakened, not like the person who was defending the three of them just a little earlier. Now he was just a boy. "I can't really remember. It's all just kind of a blur now. God, what happened to my nose?"

Blaine pulled Kurt into his arms, resting his chin on his shoulder and sighing deeply. "They hit you. Sweetheart, I'm so sorry that this happened to you. I wanted to stop them, but they were so fast. I'm sorry I let them hurt you."

"What? No, this isn't your fault at all. Don't ever think that," Kurt reassured him, wrapping his arms around Blaine and relaxing against him.

Blaine sighed again, tightening his arms. "It's just... It was my idea to come to this stupid school and you got hurt, and, gosh, I'm just the worst boyfriend ever."

"No, Blaine, you're not. Actually, far from it." He chuckled, and when Blaine just shook his head and looked down, he explained further. "You seemed to forget that I was bullied at my school too. I always had to fight for myself, but the bullies never really went away. Karofsky didn't even stop until Santana basically threatened to blackmail him."

Kurt looked up at him then. "You protected me. Protected us," he added, motioning to Seth. "Not exactly the way I would've done it," he added with a smirk, "but you did. You didn't even threaten them and you still made them leave." His eyes traveled to his lap. "I've never really had someone fight for me before."

Blaine smiled at Seth over Kurt's shoulder and then looked back at his boyfriend, his eyes growing soft with love. "I'd fight for you with everything I have, for any reason, Kurt. I love you."

A tiny smile grew on Kurt's face, which just made Blaine's heart seem to grow even more for the boy. "I love you too, baby," he whispered, snuggling closer to his boyfriend.

Once Blaine and Kurt were able to separate from their comforting embrace, goodbyes and phone numbers were exchanged with Seth with promises to stay in touch. Blaine knew it's a promise he would keep. Even though they had been confronted by past bullies, seeing his old friend and seeing that he was doing okay made it worth it for Blaine.

They were walking through the parking lot, hand in hand, when Blaine turned to his boyfriend and smiled, squeezing his hand. "You were really brave back there, you know. I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, Blaine." Kurt entwined their fingers together. "You were pretty brave yourself. I don't want to hear anything about you not being courageous, mister, because you're quite good at it," he teased, smiling and giving Blaine a wink.

Blaine blushed, looking down at their hands and laughing quietly. "Well, I guess you've gotta practice what you preach, right?" By then, they had reached the car. Blaine leaned against it and pulled Kurt to him. "But in all honesty Kurt, I think you were the braver of the two of us back there. It took one of those meat heads hitting my boyfriend for me to really man up and stand up to them like I wanted to."

"Blaine," Kurt began sternly. "Weren't you the one who said you wanted to come here to face your fears? Well, it certainly wasn't my idea," he smirked, but then continued with sincerity in his voice, gripping Blaine's shoulders. "Blaine, you did that. It doesn't matter how; you did. And honestly, you know how badly I've been bullied. As much as I dislike admitting it, I'm not exactly the most popular person at school." He gave a weak smile at that as Blaine looked on with sympathy. Blaine wished he could change that. Hell, he'd do anything for the boy. "For you to stand up for not just yourself, but for one of your best friends from your old school? And on top of that, to stand up for me?" He glanced behind him to make sure no one was watching, and kissed Blaine swiftly on the mouth. "Well, I think that's pretty special."

Blaine blushed, pulling Kurt tighter against him and fisting his hands in the back of Kurt's sweater. "I would do anything for you, Kurt. And Seth... Well, he made it a lot easier for me here. I have a feeling I would have been much worse off without him here with me. So I kind of owed him that." He paused for a second, playing with the soft material of Kurt's sweater between his fingers. "I'm glad we came here. Even with everything that happened. I feel like maybe I have closure now and can put all this behind me." He paused again and glanced up at his boyfriend, smiling brightly at him. "Plus, I got to see my boyfriend in full sassy diva mode. Not gonna lie, that was kinda hot, Kurt."

"Hm," Kurt muttered, giving Blaine a sly grin. "Well, I'm glad you liked it," he whispered, pulling at his jacket to kiss him deeper.

Blaine grinned, pressing up against his boyfriend willingly and kissing him back. Before he got lost in all that was Kurt, his scent, his taste, his feel, he couldn't help but think about how utterly complete he felt; almost like he had fought against the enemies of his past and won. Kurt tightened his grip around him and kissed him harder, deeper, and Blaine was gone (removed italics) by then, his very last coherent thought being that he couldn't have done any of it without the boy in his arms; the boy who he loved more than anything; the boy that, above all else, gave him _courage_.


End file.
